Sooner or later, the shots weren't going to fall, the defense wasn't going to be as stout and the opponent was just going to be more desperate.

Sooner or later, the Pistons weren't going to be able to flip the switch and make a team go away.

It happened Tuesday night at Continental Airlines Arena.

The Nets, riding a four-game losing streak and losers in eight of their last 11, built a 10-point lead late in the third quarter and held off a wild Pistons rally in the fourth.

"For whatever reason, we just weren't as mentally alert," coach Flip Saunders said after the Nets held on for a 91-84 victory, ending the Pistons' 11-game win streak.

Pistons: NotebookBillups unsure of U.S. Plans commitment to team depends on schedule of guard, whose wife will give birth this summer By Chris McCosky

In just a couple of short years, Chauncey Billups has gone from a vagabond player bouncing from team to team, to NBA champion and NBA Finals MVP, to most likely his first All-Star appearance this season and now, perhaps, a U.S. Olympian.

Not bad work.

"It's crazy, man," Billups said after shoot-around Tuesday. "It just shows that I've come a long way. It's an unbelievable honor to have that opportunity, and really to be in a position to be considered, it's great. I am loving it."

Jerry Colangelo, managing director of the U.S. men's national basketball team, told The News on Monday that there is a spot on the team for Billups and the only question is finalizing the commitment.

The rivalry between the Nets and the Pistons — fueled by fierce playoff battles — subsided the past season and a half. Detroit has dominated the N.B.A. this season, so there was not much of a showdown to speak of heading into Tuesday's game.

But that intense battle was renewed at Continental Arena, and the Nets showed that, though they may not be as consistent as the Pistons, they have the tools to compete with them.

Thanks to a late 3-pointer and two free throws from Jason Kidd, the Nets ended a four-game losing streak, 91-84.

The loss was only the Pistons' sixth in 43 games this season, snapping their 11-game winning streak. Detroit (37-6) still has the best record in the league. The Nets improved to 23-20.

The NBA's MVP race is the two-person undertaking of Steve Nash and Chauncey Billups.

The others -- Elton Brand, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki -- are distant candidates at the midway point in the season.

Nash has provided a stirring encore to his tirelessly debated MVP acquisition last season. It comes in the absence of Amare Stoudemire, the team's No. 2 player who has yet to score a point or snare a rebound this season. His injury was expected to cripple the Suns, Nash or not.

If not Nash, then Billups

Now Billups is the essential element on a team that is flirting with the 70-win mark.

His assist/turnover ratio is third in the NBA. He is ranked in the top 20 of 15 statistical categories.

At age 29 -- late by NBA standards -- Billups has emerged as a genuine star who relishes taking the big shot.

Let me tell you a secret: even though the Pistons have lost to them twice this year, I actually really like the Jazz. I'm still a Memo Okur fan, and watching Andrei Kirilenko is just plain fun. Plus, I love Jerry Sloan's old school approach, and his teams always play hard.

And while most fans will say the Pacers are our biggest rival, I can't muster up the energy to care about them now that Ron Artest is gone. I'll even go so far as to say that I like Jermaine O'Neal, and I admit that if you really look at the tape, he was probably justified for KO'ing that fan on the court last year.

Now, I freely admit that I was able to watch all of (the last) five minutes of this game, but after one quick glance at the box score I can't help but think I know what went wrong: Rasheed Wallace went 1-of-11 from beyond the three-point line. 1-of-11! And he only attempted 14 total shots! The shot chart is just depressing, especially considering he didn't attempt a single, boring, old two-pointer after halftime.

Let me be clear, I absolutely love Rasheed's inside-outside game — it makes him one of the most indefensible big men in the game. But it's simply inexcusable to completely forget to, you know, play the post. When he did play down low, he made two of three shots. [more...]

My rough translation follows... (caveat, I am lousy at Spanish, so it's google with some fixes I could apply afterwords).

In His Words: Carlos Delfino (Detroit Pistons) MIAMI, Florida (23 of January, 2006) - the Argentine player fulfills his second season with Detroit and their numbers reflect a good campaign. After a year of adaptation and injuries, Delfino returned for a very positive season with the Pistons, that has the best record of the league, a solid team that needs a prepared group of substitutes who heads the santafesino. This is a conversation with number 20 of Detroit:

How goes the season? Personally well, of minor to greater, as it waited for it, since the year had begun. I am calm, little by little the coach is to me more using every day and treatment to take advantage of the minutes and to demonstrate the maximum that I can give. It is not easy because I came from a very long time without playing due to the injury and little by little I am taking the rate and confidence in my same one.

Detroit does not let surprise and counts on the best record of the NBA, what do you think of all this? The starting five are playing very well. I am one of whom that thinks it is the best five of the league, I believe that all along that they take playing together and the form to be reconciled causes that the team at the present time is playing the level that is doing it. We, from the bench, whenever we left we tried to maintain the same level, to help them to give them to rest and the idea it is to arrive whole at playoffs.

Before initiating the season nobody spoke of Detroit, now all know that it is the favorite... I believe that it was spoken much of San Antonio, that was reinforced, etc. Whereas our team was not practically touched and that is one of the causes of the level that we are playing this height. Although there were no drastic changes within the group, I believe that the only great change was the one of the coach, who has added us many things to the offensive subject, the defense has not been touched and before the defense of this team was great the strong one. For that reason everything has been multiplied. Now people begin to speak of us, everything changes because there were players who more were known as net defenders but today they are playing the attack and they make the things very well.

How the things with Flip Saunders go, how you you take it with him? Either, he is very good person and it works much with the young people, he was Barbarian his arrival to the team and the fact that we began winning and that the consolidated record or this or now gives a much more ample margin us of error. I feel comfortable and each party I am gained plus the confidence of him and also confidence in me. Also I more am adapted and a little more small change at the time of speaking English and that learning that I had the year last has served me much for this season.

Think that Chauncey Billups can get to be the MVP of the season? I believe that still he is very early to say it but I believe that is making the things very well, are nights that that demonstrates truely if it is the type of player whom there is to follow and who it makes play better the others, then surely that go to be within the candidates. For us he is a referring one and hopefully it continues playing this level, by or ours and by or of him so that that prize can be won, I believe that if follows therefore it is going it to obtain.

How you see Manu, Chapu and Oberto? Sight I believe that Manu is or, was something stopped by its injury, but after that, returned playing or and a great rate. It follows with the intensity of always and producing much for the time that plays. Chapu, on the other hand, is holding fast every day more. I say that Chapu is like a "bull", that way leaves enters, sometimes plays much other times not as much, but he continues producing and mental as much as I physically see it very well and adapted to the NBA. Within his team it is a fundamental pillar for the system, I create can be in the Game of Stars in the match of triples, I believe that he would be Barbarian for him because I believe that is deserved it. Fabricio finihes arriving and is in the team champion. He is a very intelligent player and its process of adaptation is going to happen very quickly.

How you have seen this season Carlos Arroyo? Good, Carlos is playing very well, for the minutes that he has within the team and he has good statistics. The problem is that, that does not have the sufficient space, by the great player whom it has ahead (Billups), and nonsingle he, the five holders of the team are in a great level, you I say it by personal experience. It is not easy "to rob" minutes to him to those players and as the team is well, that way he is better not to touch to the starting five. For that reason Arroyo suddenly is undergoing that part as we are undergoing all those of the bench, but independent of that, he is working very well, is training to thousands, is like everybody hoping the opportunity to demonstrate the talent. The few minutes that are playing he does well, hopefully that when he has the opportunity and they just a little bit give him more of space continues demonstrating his level like until now.

After one season and average in the NBA, what is what it becomes difficult to you more in the adaptation? I believe that the subject that having so many followed parties, he is something that not yet I adapt although nongame too many minutes. The subject blotch and tells new from a day the other is not so easy, but I believe that that you it gives the time it playing. Suddenly that is what it needs to me since the last year I am called on myself to see much the game from outside, this year I have participated much more, in that point for my has been like being of novice, since I make more part of the rotation of the team, I must again continue learning and giving examination every day.

As they are your plans with the Argentine selection for the 2006? If they call to me I am going to play, until they have not called to me now, but I believe that they have not done it with any, I believe that it is not time still. I think to be to disposition of the coach to be part of the establishment. I believe that Argentina at the present time has the luck to have near 20 or 25 players of high disposition to represent the country to play the world-wide one. I will try to continue giving the best of me day to day to be here at the level in the selection. I believe that we have a very great possibility, an important group of players and with the subject of the drawing, I do not say that we have it easy, but if something favorable to make the things affluent.

Your father always is tie to your race as much inside as outside the fields. Which is its greater legacy? I believe that he is the one that knows me more, as far as my temperament or personality in the field, follows close by my statistics very. Outside sport the friendship that we have he is incredible, I had the luck to grow when he played professional level and to see it, that way we have the same love by this sport, then we shared things and more than father he is a friend. In my house always there has been an atmosphere with much sport and hardly it is spoken of another thing that is not sport, very we are united by that side.

Some message for the followers of Detroit in Latin America who are pending of you and of the team? Good as I say whenever the followers of Detroit are 1% because the rest is of San Antonio (laughter). He sent a very great greeting to them and hopefully that is very contentments by the level of the team in this season and which we pruned to crown it with the ring that did not occur the previous year us. I am very proud of being a Latino representing them within a wonderful team.

Earlier in the evening, Chauncey Billups was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month (the first Piston so awarded since Grant Hill in January of 1997) and Flip Saunders became the first NBA coach to be named Coach of the Month three straight months.

Then, with large contingents of Steelers and Seahawks players sitting courtside, the Pistons ran the Minnesota Timberwolves out of The Palace, spanking them, 90-74, before the 108th straight sellout crowd, which gave standing ovations first to Jerome Bettis, then to Ben Wallace, whose energy exasperated the Timberwolves and enlivened his teammates and the crowd.

The public relations manager for the Golden State Warriors was fired Wednesday for inadvertently sending out a racially insensitive e-mail titled "Ghetto Prom" to the team's entire media distribution list.

Eric Govan, the No. 3 person on the Warriors' media relations staff, sent the e-mail featuring 17 photos, many depicting scantily clad African-Americans in formal attire and commentary on the outfits.

The e-mail went to dozens of newspaper reporters, columnists and sports editors, as well as television and radio stations.

"I can assure you that the contents of this e-mail -- or any unsaid presumptions -- do not represent the values and beliefs of the Golden State Warriors organization," team president Robert Rowell said in a statement.

A few weeks ago, the Pistons felt slighted that despite their league-best start, no player had been singled out for any NBA honors.

Then shooting guard Richard Hamilton was named Eastern Conference player of the week.

Now point guard Chauncey Billups has been named Eastern Conference Player of the month for January.

"That's a great, great honor," Billups said. "I've never got that before. I've been player of the week, but player of the month is a lot tougher to get because you have to do it over the course of four straight weeks."

Add another Eastern Conference coach of the month award for Flip Saunders -- he has swept the first three months, a franchise first -- and it's clear the old we-don't-get-no-respect line isn't going to fly far this season.

The Minnesota Timberwolves had the perfect opportunity Wednesday night to heal their frustrations from a 24-point loss to the Pistons last week. The Pistons had traveled home from New Jersey late Tuesday night and were in a rare position -- coming off just their sixth loss of the season.

Lot of good that did. The Pistons (38-6) attacked in the second quarter and won, 90-74, as half of the NFL -- or so it seemed, anyway -- watched from the pricey seats on the Palace floor.

The Detroit Pistons were looking to rebound from a rare loss Wednesday night, so who better to set the tone than their best rebounder, Ben Wallace.

He out-hustled the Minnesota Timberwolves on the boards to set the tone for the Pistons' 90-74 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"He was huge," said Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince, who had 20 points. "Rebounding, blocking, steals . . . he does it all defensively and obviously, getting offensive rebounds. He did some great things for us tonight."

​

~ The Oakland Press ~

​

Back to business Pistons respond from a rare loss with easy win over Timberwolves By Bill Roose

Coming off one of their worst shooting performances of the year, which helped end the NBA's season-high 11 game winning streak, the Pistons returned home Wednesday and begin a new streak.

The Pistons were unstoppable, turning huge offensive surges into an impressive 90-74 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at The Palace.

Richard Hamilton scored a game-high 21 points, Tayshaun Prince added 20 points and six assists, and Ben Wallace had 17 rebounds, four steals and three blocks as the Pistons avoided losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Trade or no trade, the Timberwolves still can't compete with the NBA's best team.

Not yet, anyway.

It's unrealistic to expect a team playing its fourth game after a major trade to be able to defeat a team like the Detroit Pistons, who put on a show during a 90-74 blowout Wednesday night in front of a sellout crowd at The Palace of Auburn Hills that included several Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks.

The Wolves never recovered from a 20-2 Pistons run in the second quarter. The game wasn't as close as the final score.

"Avalanche," Wolves coach Dwane Casey said. "Offensively, our execution was bad. That's one problem you have against a team defense like that. They turned up the juice, and we couldn't execute."

The score was 27-27 when the Pistons seemed to sense they had an audience that could be shown why they carry an NBA-best 38-6 record.

The most significant number in the NBA so far this season? No, not Kobe Bryant's 81 points or even that wacky 93 that Ron Artest chose for his new duds in Sacramento.

It's 70 — as in how many wins the Detroit Pistons are on pace to achieve this season. They have been so dominant, wiping out everything in their path, even the reigning champion San Antonio Spurs — victims of 85-70 and 83-68 drubbings — have been no match.

A record of 35-5 carries great weight in Detroit because that's the stunning mark the 1984 Tigers put up on their way to the 1984 World Series. But the Pistons easily surpassed that mark in the midst of a league-best 11-game winning streak. Next in their sights could be the Chicago Bulls' 72-10 mark of 1995-96.

72 or bust for the Pistons?In case you hadn’t noticed, the Detroit Pistons don’t seem to be missing Larry Brown very much.

When the well-traveled coach wheeled and dealed his way out of Detroit in favor of his hometown Knicks, Detroit simply turned to Flip Saunders, who had been shown the door in Minnesota after 10 solid-but-unspectacular seasons.

Saunders was smart enough to realize that a veteran Pistons team that had made consecutive trips to the NBA Finals didn’t need a whole lot of changes. A mere tweak here and there changed the focus a little bit away from Brown’s defensive minded philosophy.​

The resilient Pistons bounced back from a tough loss in Jersey on Tuesday to blow out the Timberwolves at the Palace on Wednesday. It wasn't the prettiest game in the world — Minnesota was actually leading by one after the first quarter — but Detroit clamped down with their trademark defense to hold the T-Wolves to just 15 points in each of the next two quarters.

It's not often that a guy who failed to score a single point can be singled out as a game-changer, but Ben Wallace was phenomenal with 17 rebounds (including eight offensive boards), four steals and three blocks. [click for more...]

Dumars wrote his own rules to build an elite franchise By Chris McCosky

There must be days when Pistons president Joe Dumars looks out from his suite at The Palace, in the din of yet another sellout crowd, his basketball team the absolute scourge of the NBA on the court and the toast of it off the court, and thinks, "No way this can be happening."

Two years ago, the Pistons were champions. Last year, they fell one game short. Today, they are 38-6 and marching steadfastly toward a third straight NBA Finals appearance.

The Pistons are a model of efficiency, the league standard in terms of team building, salary-cap management, marketing and community service.

Yao Ming outpolled Kobe Bryant as the top vote-getter in fan balloting for the 55th NBA All-Star game, and Shaquille O'Neal became the fifth player in league history to earn 13 consecutive selections for the game.

Yao and Tracy McGrady give the host Houston Rockets two starters in the Feb. 20 game, it was announced Thursday. They were joined on the Western Conference squad by Bryant, San Antonio's Tim Duncan and reigning MVP Steve Nash of Phoenix -- who will be a first-time All-Star starter.

Cleveland's LeBron James was the top Eastern Conference vote getter, beating O'Neal by 15,155 votes. It's the second straight All-Star trip for James, who says he's still drawing motivation from being snubbed during his rookie season.

The Detroit Pistons showed they can respond to a tough loss. The Philadelphia 76ers might have a hard time doing the same without Allen Iverson when they take on the league`s best team.

Detroit had won 11 in a row before losing 91-84 at New Jersey on Tuesday, coming up two victories shy of the longest win streak in team history.

It was just the sixth loss of the season for the Pistons. Every other team in the league has at least 10.

One night after shooting a near season-low 36.6 percent from the field against the Nets, the Pistons bounced back to shoot 45.5 percent and easily beat Minnesota 90-74 on Wednesday. Richard Hamilton scored 21 points and Tayshaun Prince added 20 as Pistons coach Flip Saunders beat his former team for the second time in nine days.

Detroit has not lost consecutive regular-season games since a three-game skid from March 22-25.

They don't have a Michael or a Scottie, but the Pistons can match the 1995-96 Bulls' 72-win season, Doug Smith says

There's really not much drama to the NBA's Eastern Conference these days, unless you're trying to figure out what sub-.500 team might scrape into eighth place or whether the league will do the right thing and revoke the New York franchise.

But there is one compelling story that's going to play out in the final three months of the season: Can the Detroit Pistons win 72 regular season games and match the all-time single-season record of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls?

At 38-6, and despite a hiccup in New Jersey this week where they had an 11-game win streak snapped, the methodical Pistons are on track to equal that mark. And since they should have homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs wrapped up by about March break, chasing that record should keep Detroit interested through the final month of the regular season.

Who is best: East? West? Detroit? Top team slighted, may be able to take them both By Mark Montieth

Just what the rest of the NBA needed. Another reason for Detroit to feel slighted.

The Pistons, like the city they represent, carry a chip on their shoulder as it is. Now that none of their players has been selected by fans to start in the Feb. 19 NBA All-Star Game, they'll only have more reason to claim that disrespected feeling teams love so much.

Chauncey Billups. Richard Hamilton. Tayshaun Prince. Rasheed Wallace. Ben Wallace. Any one of them ranks as a legitimate All-Star selection.

Prince would be a bit of a stretch, but nobody who saw him sprint downcourt to block what appeared to be a gimme Reggie Miller layup in Game 2 of the 2004 Eastern Conference semifinals would argue much.

At the conclusion of the 2001 season, where the Pistons finished 30-52 with an overmatched roster full of expiring contracts (Billy Owens, Dana Barros, Joe Smith, Corliss Williamson, et al), frustration was mounting. As a recap of the season, McCosky published an article that must still keep him up nights given the Pistons subsequent run of success. This story about Joe was nothing like those mentioned above. The article actually questioned whether Joe D was capable of running the Pistons. [read more]

{micro: this is a great read, make sure you check out both of the linked articles by McCoskey}

The mere mention of those teams brings visions of flying beer, haymakers and of course, Ron Artest. But now that the league's number one bad boy is out West with the Sacramento Kings, some of the focus will return to basketball as the teams play each other for the first time this season Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Two seasons ago, the Pistons knocked off the top-seeded Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals on their way to winning the NBA title. Last season, the Pistons beat the Pacers in the second round of the playoffs to send Reggie Miller into retirement.

The two franchises have been among the league's best the past eight seasons. In that span, the teams have combined for a championship, three trips to the NBA Finals and seven Eastern Conference finals appearances.

PHILADELPHIA -- Early in Friday night's game against the Allen Iverson-less 76ers, the game plan seemed obvious -- find the open Piston playing in front of his family and friends and hometown, get him the ball, and watch the lead grow.

Again and again in the first quarter, Philadelphia native Rasheed Wallace and Richard Hamilton, who hails from nearby Coatesville, found themselves catching a pass from Chauncey Billups and staring at open shots.

PHILADELPHIA -- None of the five players who brought team basketball back in vogue won enough fan love to start on the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

But all's not lost. Now it's the coaches' turn to select reserves, and Pistons coach Flip Saunders wonders if they might select all five of his stars -- point guard Chauncey Billups, shooting guard Richard Hamilton, small forward Tayshaun Prince, power forward Rasheed Wallace and center Ben Wallace -- for the Feb. 19 game in Houston.

However, he has come to accept that he will probably be among the All-Star Game reserves selected by the Eastern Conference coaches next Thursday. If not, then he's likely to be chosen by NBA commissioner David Stern as a replacement for Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal, who has a groin injury and will not play in the Feb. 19 game in Houston.

Now, however, what’s interesting about the game is to see how much both teams have changed since that fateful November 19th 2004 game, going back, as I said in a previous column, to that singular moment when Ben Wallace shoved Ron Artest away, shoving with him the entire Indiana Pacers team into oblivion. It’s interesting to see how that’s symbolic of everything that went on since then.

JOHN SALMONS remembered glancing over at the Detroit Pistons in a timeout huddle midway through the fourth quarter. He didn't like what he saw, but he understood it. He definitely respected it. He might even have felt a measure of envy.

"I was getting upset," the 76ers guard said after last night's 87-80 loss to the 39-6 Pistons, generally regarded as the NBA's best team. "They'd get in the huddle, laughing and joking. They knew they were going to come out with the win. It was like, been there, done that. They just know how to win games. They're not worried."

The 76ers did everything they could last night to defeat the Detroit Pistons. They shot a better percentage. They grabbed more rebounds. They kept the Wachovia Center crowd of 20,010 involved for most of the game.

But the Pistons never got flustered and played with the confidence that belongs to a team that owns the NBA's best record. Using that self-assurance and getting 30 points from Coatesville's Richard Hamilton, Detroit came up with an 87-80 victory over the Sixers to improve to 39-6.

The path the Detroit Pistons have taken to NBA supremacy might be depressing for Indiana Pacers fans, who not so long ago viewed their team as an equal force.​

But it offers hope, too.

Through insight and fate, Pistons president Joe Dumars has assembled a team that is chasing history. The 39-6 record they take into tonight's game at Conseco Fieldhouse puts them in the same conversation with the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team that finished an all-time best 72-10.

Am I the only person a little uncomfortable with an Indy writer mentioning that the Pistons could be a blueprint for the Pacers? Welcome to Bizzaro world. - micro

PHILADELPHIA - The All-Star break is just two weeks away. From the looks of it, that breather can't come soon enough for the Pistons.

Their energy and intensity levels have dipped noticeably in their last two road games. A matchup against the Philadelphia Sixers without Allen Iverson smelled of a blowout but instead reeked of heavy perspiration. The Pistons won for the 13th time in 14 games, but their 87-80 victory at the Wachovia Center was much too close for comfort.

Am I the only person a little uncomfortable with an Indy writer mentioning that the Pistons could be a blueprint for the Pacers? Welcome to Bizzaro world. - micro

Click to expand...

All the praise is getting me nervous, because it can change so fast. I remember when the Pistons were modeling themselves after the Orlando Magic - who promptly turned their back on the Bo Outlaw model of scrappy underachievers and spiralled downward into Steve Francis hell.

It seemed the tank might have been running low when Chauncey Billups yawned during pregame introductions. When the Pacers got 14 offensive rebounds in the first quarter, you knew the teams were playing with differing levels of intensity.

Carlisle says don't cry for me .... "There will always be challenges with this," he said. "And right now, our challenge is to get healthy. We feel like, if we can get our whole team together, we can make a run and we have to do it with the guys that are available.

....​

Darko Milicic met the team in Indianapolis Saturday. He missed Friday because of a flu-like virus that's running through the team. The latest to be afflicted, media relations man Kevin Grigg.

Carlos Arroyo missed the team flight to Philadelphia. He had to fly commercial and was expected to be fined by the team. He is believed to be the first Piston to draw a disciplinary fine since Richard Hamilton, who missed a flight during the 2004 playoffs.

Before all the injuries, before the trade and before Detroit opened the season with a dead sprint toward history, this was a game that loomed like a heavyweight bout. Instead, it was merely an opportunity for the Indiana Pacers to display the sort of performance they once assumed would be the norm.

Just by playing, Stephen Jackson showed the Pacers the toughness they needed to beat Detroit. Jackson shook off a recent injury that sent him to the hospital to score 20 points and grab seven rebounds, and Indiana upset the rival Pistons 93-85 Saturday night.

INDIANAPOLIS -- With the Detroit Pistons threatening to challenge the record for most regular-season wins in NBA history, and the Indiana Pacers fighting just to make the playoffs, Saturday night's matchup didn't quite have the intrigue the series has the past couple of seasons. That didn't matter, as the Pacers got one of their biggest wins of the season in defeating the Pistons a 93-85.

Prince will withdraw from Olympic team consideration .... "Who knows if we (the Pistons) go all the way (through the playoff) to June, and a couple of weeks after we finish, this starts up," Prince said. "If you think about playing for a gold medal, of course, you'll be like, `yeah, I'm for that.' You want to represent your country and USA basketball. But, we're trying to win a title every year."

INDIANAPOLIS - Better to have a few fresh bodies than a bunch of weary ones.

It's not as snappy a phrase as Fernando's "Better to look good than to feel good," but it aptly described the Pistons' plight Saturday night. They were running on empty playing for the fourth time in fi ve nights in four different cities. Those dead legs gave the depleted Indiana Pacers the opening they needed to sneak past their most heated rival.

With Billups playing at that level, Carlisle is not surprised by the Pistons' league-leading record. He also believes they are much deeper than many people suspect.

"They don't have a weakness," he said. "One of the weaknesses they don't have is the fact they don't rely completely on one or two players to carry their team. They really have great balance. They have a bench that fits their roster situation very well. When you've got Dale Davis sitting over there, who has played 46 minutes all year, if he was here, he'd have played that in our last game and a half."

Mitch Lawrence reports in today's New York Daily News that the Pistons may be shopping for a new backup point guard.

Even after rolling off 37 wins in their first 42 games, the fourth-best start in league history, the Pistons still feel they have a weakness. They've had internal discussions about getting a veteran backup point guard to spell Chauncey Billups for 10-12 minutes per night. They don't feel their current backup, Carlos Arroyo, gets everybody involved enough.

If current Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy were back with the Knicks–in the Eastern Conference–the Piston starters' chances of being named reserves for the East's All-Star squad would probably be improved by a vote.

Yes, they were playing their second game of a road back-to-back, but don't accept that as a valid excuse. The Pistons–with their full compliment of players–should always be able to beat a Pacers team without the services of Jermaine O'Neal, Austin Croshere, and Jamal Tinsley, regardless of how tired their legs may be. Instead, despite the best efforts of Rip and Sheed, the Pistons slept their way to a 93-85 loss to the Pacers last night.

If they haven't already done so, Pistons president Joe Dumars and coach Flip Saunders will discuss the possibility of speeding up Lindsey Hunter's return to active duty.

The hope was to have Hunter ready after the All-Star break, but the Pistons might not be able to wait that long.

Chauncey Billups is beat up right now. He is taking daily treatment on a bruised left thigh, which he injured against the Lakers on Jan. 29. In Saturday night's loss at Indiana, Billups suffered some minor tissue damage to his right hand.

Today the Pistons will return to a place they've missed in the past few weeks -- the practice facility.

It has been more than a week since the Pistons held an official team practice. The last one was Jan. 28, the day before the team embarked on a week that included five games in seven days in four cities.

In the past two weeks, Detroit had three practices.

"Man, we've been playing a lot of games," said shooting guard Richard Hamilton, the sole Piston who looked rested in Saturday's 93-85 loss to the Pacers in Indianapolis.

As durable and consistent as the NBA-leading Pistons (39-7) have been, they couldn't withstand that schedule and keep up their winning clip. Detroit lost twice in that five-game span, including Tuesday night in New Jersey.

As the Detroit Pistons rush to dispense with the regular season and return to the finals for the third consecutive season, one of their players, Darko Milicic, has been virtually invisible.

Milicic, the No. 2 pick in the 2003 draft, was chosen ahead of players like Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. He entered the weekend averaging 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds in 5.8 minutes and has not been able to break into the Pistons' well-oiled rotation.

Detroit holds the option for his fourth season, and Joe Dumars, the team president, has become more active in trade discussions.

But it is hard to ascertain Milicic's value because he rarely plays. Milicic, a 7-footer and only 20, is aware of a trade possibility, but Dumars has also turned down offers to develop his talent.

There are observers who believe it was a travesty that none of the Detroit Pistons was voted by the fans to an Eastern Conference All-Star Game berth.

However, the team with the NBA's best record actually received the ultimate endorsement of its collective method of success when the fans bypassed its best players for others with gaudier individual statistics.

And there is a thought process first publicly mentioned by Boston coach Doc Rivers that the entire starting five should be voted onto the All-Star squad.

Unquestionably this season, the Pistons have been the model for team play, led by point guard Chauncey Billups, who has been mentioned as a serious Most Valuable Player candidate. Or is it center Ben Wallace, who consistently makes his mark as perhaps the NBA's most effective and impact team defender?

The Pistons came to the Wachovia Center on Friday night to play the 76ers having won 13 of 14 games, and their 39-6 record has them on pace to challenge the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls for the best record in NBA history at 72-10.

The season began in November, but Pistons forward Ben Wallace suggested it actually might have begun for Detroit back in June, back when they lost to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

"Game 7 was all the motivation we needed," said Wallace before Friday's game. "We felt like if we would have had Game 7 in our building, maybe the outcome would have been a little bit different. That's what we're playing for right now - regardless of who's coaching."​

The Super Bowl is gone, but Detroit’s super team is right where it has been for what’s going on three years now — at the Palace in Auburn Hills, home of the Pistons.

This town is crazy about them, as it has been for years and as it should be. So far in the 2005-2006 season, there’s no better team in the NBA. But you get the feeling there’s a definite national respect lag for what this remarkable outfit has been doing, which is merely threatening to match the 72-10 regular-season record set by the 1995-1996 Chicago Jordans.

Take the All Star voting. Detroit is the best team in the league and has one of the best shooters, guard Richard Hamilton, one of the best defensive centers, Ben Wallace, and a point guard, Chauncey Billups, who’s one of the best floor leaders in the game. Yet the fans didn’t vote one Piston to the starting Eastern Conference All Star Team...

Pistons' Milicic Undergoing Long Process Of Maturing As the Detroit Pistons rush to dispense with the regular season and return to the finals for the third consecutive season, one of their players, Darko Milicic, has been virtually invisible.

Milicic, the No. 2 pick in the 2003 draft, was chosen ahead of players like Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. He entered the weekend averaging 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds in 5.8 minutes and has not been able to break into the Pistons' well-oiled rotation.

Detroit holds the option for his fourth season, and Joe Dumars, the team president, has become more active in trade discussions.

But it is hard to ascertain Milicic's value because he rarely plays. With the team 39-6 entering last night's game at Indiana, the Pistons are in no hurry to make a deal. They made their blockbuster deadline trade for Rasheed Wallace two years ago; other than gaining depth, they need little but salary relief or draft picks.

Milicic, a 7-footer and only 20, is aware of a trade possibility, but Dumars has also turned down offers to develop his talent.

Milicic's agent, Marc Cornstein, explained his client's approach.

"On one hand, he has tremendous loyalty for Joe, for John Hammond, for the management of Detroit," Cornstein said Friday, referring to Hammond, the Pistons' vice president for basketball operations. "They've really been in his corner.

"That being said, it's two and a half years, and like any player, he'd like to play. He's happy as long as it's a situation where he's given the opportunity to play, and I can't see why a team acquiring him would not want to give him that immediately."

The NBA All-Star starters were named last week, and the full teams will be announced Thursday. There's not much any league can do with all-star games, though at one time the NBA's was by far the best, the most competitive and most fun.

But the announcement of the starters and the skills contests pointed out a big part of the league's problem: The NBA cares, but its players often don't.

and this little nugget (sorry fans, it's all the Darko mention you will find in this GREAT piece on today's players lack of caring for the league)

The talk is a top-10 draft pick will give you a shot at Detroit's Darko Milicic

Lindsey Hunter could not have picked a better time to return to active duty.

Hunter, out all season after left ankle surgery, traveled with Detroit to Atlanta and is expected to make his debut tonight -- smack-dab in the middle of a stretch in which the Pistons are play 10 games in 10 venues over 17 days leading into the All-Star break.

"He's a big ball of energy," Ben Wallace said. "I am going to be happy to see him out there. Not only to help the team, but for him.

"I know it had to be eating him up sitting on the side and watching. It's great for him, and it's great for us."

Burning questions as the U.S. attempts to restore its tarnished international glory:

Q. Has Tayshaun Prince removed his name from consideration for the U.S. national team?

A. No, he hasn't, and he was quite surprised to learn it was reported he had. "I ain't said nothing about it," Prince said. "It's still an option." Prince is weighing the three-year commitment against the strain of playing 100-plus game seasons year after year.

We may not have the "Seattle" SuperSonics to kick around a whole lot longer.

Owner Howard Schultz has issued an ultimatum to the Washington state legislature -- help us bring KeyArena into the modern era, or we're out.

"We are in a situation where we believe that if March 9 comes and goes, and we do not get the type of support that we deserve, the type of respect that we are asking for we are going to have to seek other alternatives," Schultz said.

"And it might mean that the Sonics will either have to move or be sold."

Chasing history could come with a hefty price for the Pistons: fatigue.

That's why the 70-victory talk might be off the mark. What the Pistons are chasing is home-court advantage throughout the playoffs -- no matter how many victories it takes.

Seventy victories would be quite a feat. The NBA record is 72, by the 1995-96 Bulls. But the Pistons would have to win 31 of the remaining 36 games to reach 70, and that likely would mean more minutes for the starters.

And that doesn't seem to fly with coach Flip Saunders. He intends to cut back on some of the starters' minutes, particularly for Chauncey Billups, who has a sore finger and sore thigh. In the past five games, Billups has averaged 37.6 minutes.

High school students have opportunities this month to learn more about Michigan's civil rights leaders and to win scholarship money.

As part of Black History Month, the Detroit Pistons and Rock Financial are sponsoring a five-stop tour, called Know Your Local Black History.

The next stop: Thursday at Pontiac Central High School.

Former Pistons player Rick Mahorn and the Detroit Shock's Swin Cash are among the scheduled speakers. They'll talk to 1,300 students about civil rights leaders from Michigan and around the country, including Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

By the Pistons' standards, two losses in four games qualifies as a cold streak. It's time to wind up the teams energizer bunny.

After missing the first 46 games of the season, Lindsey Hunter is expected to be in uniform tonight when the Pistons play the Atlanta Hawks. Hunter underwent surgery in October to clean out loose particles in his left ankle and has been rehabilitating the injury the first three months of the regular season. He suffered the injury during the NBA Finals, and it failed to heal during the summer.

Today's NBA markets itself around these marquee players who can be recognized by one name or their initials.

Chauncey, Richard, Tayshaun, Rasheed and Ben?

Doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?

But if you're looking for the best basketball, the latter group is the answer.

In a season where Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has scored 81 points in a game, Miami Heat coach Stan Van Gundy resigned to make way for Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley to return and volatile superstar Ron Artest was traded to the Kings twice, the amazing accomplishments of the Detroit Pistons have gone virtually unnoticed.

He was a standout guard in a era that was dominated by three future Hall of Famers. Despite that, Dave Bing carved his own special niche in the NBA, overcame his own obstacles, and would make that same trip to Springfield on his own merits.

Playing against the likes of Walt Frazier, Oscar Robertson, and Jerry West, Bing was a high-scoring guard who triumphed over injuries and went about his business for 12 seasons in the NBA.

He then quietly went on to off-court success in the business world as a self-made industrial magnate.

In nine seasons with the Detroit Pistons, followed by two with the Washington Bullets and one with the Boston Celtics, Bing amassed 18,327 points in 901 gamess (20.3 ppg). His efforts earned him a spot on the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.